James Dobson attacks the Virgin Mary
AmTalibangelist James Dobson (founder and chair of Focus on the Phallus) doesn’t like the idea of Mary Cheney and Heather Poe raising a child, and he’s not afraid to shout his disdain from the pages of Time. Same-sex parenting—like same-sex marriage—is less a sign of political correctness than of recognition that civil equality is both a social good and a moral imperative. Anti-equality arguments such as Dobson’s may be couched in reasonable-sounding language of an “untested and far-reaching social experiment,” but his fears are not based on the facts.
The American Psychological Association reported in 2002 that:
…children who grow up with 1 or 2 gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual. Children's optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes.
The American Academy of Pediatrics concurred in 2004:
Gay and lesbian parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide healthy and supportive environments for their children. [...] Evidence also suggests that children of lesbian and gay parents have normal social relationships with peers and adults. Fears about children of lesbian or gay parents being sexually abused by adults, ostracized by peers, or isolated in single-sex lesbian or gay communities have received no scientific support.
The first researcher whose work was quoted in Dobson’s screed, Yale Medical School’s Kyle Pruett, has complained about right-wing distortions of his research, saying “There is to date no credible research that says children raised by gay and lesbian couples are at risk." The second one, NYU’s Dr Carol Gilligan, wrote a cease-and-desist letter to Dobson, saying that she was “mortified to learn that you had distorted my work this week in a guest column you wrote in Time Magazine.”
When actual science and Dobson’s homophobia are placed side-by-side, the choice should be obvious.
(Thanks to MediaMatters http://mediamatters.org/items/200612110002 and John at AmericaBlog for doing the legwork.)
update (12/14 @ 3:55pm):
Dr Pruett has also written to Dobson, specifically complaining about misrepresentation of his work: “There is nothing in my longitudinal research or any of my writings to support such conclusions.” Is Dobson capable of honesty, or has he been blinded by faith?
update 2 (12/14 @ 4:35pm):
Jennifer Chrisler of Family Pride has posted a reply to Dobson on Time’s website, “Two Mommies or Two Daddies Will Do Fine, Thanks,” doesn’t shy away from calling Dobson’s op-ed for what it is:
To say that Dobson is misinformed here would be inaccurate. He is simply lying. The people who are misinformed by these untruths are the readers of his material and those who publish his work without appropriately verifying his assertions.
She also calls Dobson to account for his anti-marriage stance:
When people like Dobson profess "concern" for the welfare of children, while simultaneously attacking those very children's parents and family structures, their insincerity becomes evident. If their paramount focus is truly the health and well-being of children, then we invite Dobson and his colleagues to join our fight to ensure that all loving families are recognized, respected, protected and celebrated.
Bravo!
update 3 (12/14 @ 9:20pm):
It looks like Dobson plagiarized nearly an entire paragraph (h/t: John at AmericaBlog) of his essay.
What a wanker.